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Monday, 21 October 2013

Litspiration Challenge #4

Hello,

Background info:

For this litspiration challenge, I'll be comparing and contrasting a few literary aspects of Watership Down(which I just finished reading) with the Warriors series (which I read for a grade 8 litspiration challenge).Please note: I have deliberately used generalities in my comparisons, to avoid spoiling of the books for those who wish to read them. For some background info:

Warriors is by Erin Hunter (pseudonym for 4 authors!), and is a series of books focused on four/five clans of cats. It is an ongoing series with 5 sub-series. The first books were published in 2003 and 2004.The initial series is about Rusty, a house cat who has left his owner to join ThunderClan.

Watership Down is by Richard Adams, published the the 60s. It's a book about the adventures of a group of bucks (male rabbits) as they journey away from their home, because Fiver, one of the group, has had a premonition of danger.

Part 1: Personification

Warriors:

In this series, almost all actions are personified. This indicates, to me, that the book is aimed at a Middle School audience, as it is easy to relate to the goings on of the novel. It has a far higher level of personified thoughts than Watership Down. Even the cats’ strategies and how they worry about what their enemy might do are quite humanized. Also, when the cats misbehave, they do things that humans might do when misbehaving. One example is going to the enemy and trying to find a peaceful resolution rather than a fight without your leader’s permission. I know I would do that.

Watership Down:

The rabbits in Watership Down aren't as personified as the cats of Warriors. They're more rabbit-like - how you'd expect a rabbit to think. However, the rabbits are very tricky and clever. I would venture to say that, in the book, they're far more full of tricks than humans. They make elaborate plans and they're good plans, too. I definitely would say that I couldn't think of plans like that if I suddenly found myself in their place. An example of this is their plan to get domestic rabbits out of a hutch. They execute it, although at a cost and even though they are surprised with a very unexpected event.

Part 2: Character development

Warriors:

The character development in Warriors is more straightforward than in Watership Down. The cats usually have their personality from birth. When events are perceived through their eyes (the narrator inside their head), you can sometimes guess some of the upcoming occurrences. If the cats are developed, they're pretty much always developed outside of battle, and they tend not to get involved with non-cats. They usually have to think and act quite quickly, though. There are times when they are very careful in their descision making; for example, when they are choosing the warriors that are going to find a new place for them to live in the second sub-series.

Watership Down:

The rabbits have a wide variation of personalities and are trickier than the cats. You can't guess upcoming events as easily through their eyes. The character development for the rabbits is almost always happening. The exceptions are story-telling, in which you get a glimpse at their culture, and setting description. However, they are most prominently developed when they're being tricksters; you get a look at what their thought process was. It can sometimes take a while to fully develop these tricks, but they get the ideas for them almost right off the bat.

Part 3: Organization of Societies

Warriors:

The warriors organize themselves in clans, which are headed by a leader, whom have “star” as a suffix to their name. For instance, they would be born as 'Sprucekit'; then when apprenticed, they'd be 'Sprucepaw'. Then something like 'Sprucefur', or 'Spruceclaw', as a warrior. If they became leader, they'd be 'Sprucestar'. The leader relies on the senior warriors, who lead hunting patrols, border patrols, etc. that the leader demands. The warriors teach apprentices, and they become warriors in their own right. The kits are usually named after appearance. Stories are not told as often to older cats, although they are told to younger cats by the elders. Clans are more organized than the rabbit counterpart, warrens. The female cats are treated differently in warriors than watership down. They can get any position in the clan if they strive for it.

Watership Down:

In a warren, you can eat when you like, and you don't usually ever go on patrols. They do, however, have leaders and a group of rabbits who the leader appreciates enough to get them help him make decisions (I think males are usually the leaders). The leader has '-rah' suffixed to their name. Rabbits culture is best shown through the stories of El-ahriarah. Coincidence? Nope. Clearly this shows that each regards their '-rah' as representing/being chosen by El-ahriarah. El-ahriarah actually means something in the ancient language 'Basque', the language of the Basque peoples of Spain and France. However, 'rah' and 'Owsla' do not. The Owsla is the group of rabbits the Chief Rabbit consults and regards as his inner circle. Owsla are the equivalent of the senior warriors in Warriors. The rabbits don't have apprentices, tell more stories than the cats, and are usually named after plants. Rabbits value their females for their digging skills and their giving new kits to the warren. In the book, a female leader/Owsla member isn't mentioned.

Part 4: Domestic Members of Their Species

Warriors:

The warriors despise 'kittypets'. The warriors themselves are feral, and, unlike the rabbits in Watership Down, would never consider releasing domestic cats for increasing their own populations via breeding.

Watership Down:

The rabbits don't have nearly as low an opinion of domesticated rabbits as the cats do (of domestic cats). The rabbits are, again, feral. In Watership Down, the rabbits conducted a raid on some hutch rabbits, and escaped with three. Two were does, the gender they wanted, having their entire warren made up of bucks until that point.